The Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) has cautioned the police and other security agencies not to allow
themselves to be used by the sinking All Progressives Congress (APC) as
instruments of persecution against Nigerians perceived to be unsupportive of
the unpopular re-election bid of President Muhammodu Buhari.

This is just as the party said it
believes that the reported moves to arrest the media adviser to former military
President Ibrahim Babangida, Mr. Kassim Afegbua over General Babangida’s
declaration that President Muhammadu Buhari should not be voted to continue in
office by 2019, is a ploy to set the table for a vicious muzzling of
constitutionally guaranteed free speech and right to opinion of citizens in the
country.

PDP National Publicity Secretary,
Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement on Tuesday, said recent distasteful events
including unwarranted harassment of perceived opponents of the APC, supposed
and actual presidential hopefuls as well as opposition members, show that the
APC has now gone into jittery mode, having realized that its chances of winning
the 2019 general election has already vanished.

The party described the trend as
a dangerous threat to the nation’s democracy and symptomatic of a failed party
that is prepared to turn against the citizens in a desperate bid to hang on to
power against the will of the people.

The statement said: “We now have
a terrifying situation where people are harassed for daring to aspire for
certain elective offices or even express opinion regarding governance in the
country.

“Nigerians and the international
community have seen that almost all those who have openly expressed, or
perceived to be nursing ambition for certain offices, including the presidency,
are now facing one trumped up charge or the other, ostensibly meant to cow and
discredit them.

“The point is that the APC has
refused to wake up to the reality of the fact that Nigerians have already
reached a consensus rejecting them and that no amount of threats, intimidation
and persecution with state apparatus of power can subjugate or make them change
that determined resolve to vote out APC and its candidates come 2019.

“We therefore call on all
well-meaning Nigerians to caution the APC.

“The fact that the APC is leaving
office in 2019 has become inevitable and no one should be part of their
desperation to completely ruin our nation before their exit.”